To Move Mountains
by Mimic Teruyo
Summary: Back when Old Hell was simply known as Hell, Yuugi Hoshiguma, Deva of the Mountain, took into her care a foreign bridge princess with an unknown past. She never could have anticipated what it all would spiral into...
1. Charity

The first thing Yuugi noticed were her eyes.

They were a bright, jewel-like green, an uncommon hue among the oni, large and almond-shaped, and framed by long, coal-black eyelashes. Above all, she was struck by their gaze: bold, resistant, almost haughty, attitudes exceedingly uncommon in the stragglers Yuugi's gang normally brought before her. They were the kind of eyes she might well toast on a night of celebration after the more customary cheers for battle and victory were out of the way.

"She's the one?" She asked her lieutenant, to their prisoner's benefit rather than her own. Of course the waif before her, her honey-coloured hair loose and matted into clumps and her small stature further exaggerated by being flanked by two burly oni, was the suspicious youkai her gang had caught lurking near the entrance to Hell.

"Yes, chief. Found her sleeping by the bridge to the surface."

"On this side, of course?" When the lieutenant nodded, Yuugi placed her hands on her hips and smiled at the stranger. "Can't be all bad if you crossed it. The big question is, why did you?"

The stranger said nothing, nor responded to the smile. Yuugi found herself amused rather than irritated. It was good to see the little youkai put up a fight.

"This is our turf," she continued. They were by one of the major entrances to Hell, and thus in a realm which belonged to the Ministry of Right and Wrong. For the time being, Yuugi was offering the services of her and her followers to the Ministry in return for a rather sizeable patch of Hell, including the ground they presently stood on. "Anyone who comes here for any reason whatsoever has to answer to us."

The stranger still said nothing, but by then, Yuugi was suspecting a reason beyond stubborness. Her first impression after she managed to tear her gaze from her eyes was that not long ago, the stranger had been a normal, if likely starving, human. The second concerned her dress and the state it was in: her strangely cut, colourful jacket was faded with sunlight and grime, and little remained of what had once been elegant slippers. The only part of her outfit that was relatively intact was the gossamer-like gown she wore under her jacket. Not the most practical of garments, but Yuugi liked the look of it.

She less liked the pointed ears, like a tengu's, but she recognised a bridge princess when she saw one, as readily as she could tell the stranger was a foreigner.

"Did she say anything when you found her?" she asked, focusing her attention on the two oni guarding her.

"Not much, Chief. It was all gibberish, anyway," Kanna, the sharper of the pair, replied. "She tried to attack Touko an' me when we found her, but calmed down when I caught her fist."

Yuugi nodded, then crouched down to the bridge princess' eye level. The girl met her gaze without wavering. Surely, even if tales of the oni had never reached her land, she had to be aware Yuugi could crush her skull one-handedly in a matter of heartbeats. And yet, she held her ground.

Yuugi straightened her back. The bridge princess' eyes followed her as she rose to tower over her. Even if she couldn't understand her questions, one of them demanded an answer. Why would a youkai from a faraway land come all the way to the gates of Hell?

"Did you find anything on her?" she asked the sentries.

"Just the clothes on her back, Chief."

No answers there, then. Hell had some enemies, but a single bridge princess was unlikely to stir much chaos. Yuugi had to assume she was either lost or had lost her home and was seeking employment from the Ministry. With the language gap, however...

"If she managed to walk across the bridge, she's at least righteous." She narrowed her eyes. "The next question is, is she brave?"

She took another step closer, well into the bridge princess' personal space, cracking her knuckles.

Alarmed, the bridge princess took a step backwards, only to bump into Touko's folded arms. Her eyes darted around, looking for an escape route. None were forthcoming.

Then, she straightened her back. She sought out Yuugi's eyes and locked gazes with her, staring with such intensity that if looks could have killed Yuugi would've dropped dead in her tracks.

Well versed in reading her opponents, Yuugi grinned. The bridge princess was obviously frightened who wouldn't be, under the circumstances? but she showed no signs of giving up. Her muscles were taut, her hands curled into tiny fists, her breathing shallow. She was like a cornered wild animal, ready to pounce.

Yuugi relaxed her stance and threw her head back to laugh with relish.

"I like her!" She flashed a grin at the startled bridge princess blinking at her. "She's strong."

"Her, Chief?" Kanna asked incredulously. "Her arms're spindlier than my fingers!"

"You've met Ibuki, you know size doesn't matter. That's not how I meant it, anyway. Look at her."

If the bridge princess was uncomfortable with several pairs of oni eyes suddenly narrowing down on her, she didn't show it beyond squaring her shoulders.

Yuugi's grin widened "See? She knows she's going to lose, but she's still ready to fight to the death. That's strength, too."

She held out her hand. The bridge princess eyed it with suspicion, clearly expecting a trap. Perhaps she truly didn't know anything about the oni.

"It's an honest hand," said Yuugi, fully aware the foreign girl wouldn't understand her, but hopeful her tone of voice would convey the message.

Gingerly, still staring, the bridge princess extended her own hand and placed it in Yuugi's. Their eyes met again. The bridge princess' gaze was as candid as before, glittering with curiosity and, perhaps, hope.

"Good." Yuugi curled her fingers around the slender hand in hers, making her grip tighter than was fully necessary. The bridge princess didn't as much as flinch, earning another point of admiration from Yuugi. "Let's get her some food and something to wear someone must have some cast-offs to spare. We'll figure out what to do with her after that."

"You sure, Chief?"

"Why not? She's a fellow youkai, after all. The language's a problem, but someone from the administration will speak hers for sure." She nudged her head in the direction of the palace. "Let's go."

The bridge princess followed her lead with steady footsteps, her head held high.

* * *

 _A/N: Beta read by Gravity Saix. Thanks again, man._


	2. Humility

The crowd roared as the two oni in the ring locked their hands together for the third time and began wrestling each other into submission, their muscles glistening with sweat.

Yuugi drank deeply from her dish and wiped her mouth against her wrist, enjoying the show. Excitement never ended in Hell, least of all where her people roamed, but nothing beat the pulse-pounding action of oni matching their raw strength against one another.

The matches in the ring were sparring, really, but everyone knew what was at stake: the honour of being known as one of the strongest of the tribe. Yuugi herself had already tested her mettle against two of her lieutenants, vanquishing each in turn. They had put their soul into the battles, hissing and grappling like their lives depended on it, and she was fiercely proud of them. She drank again in their honour as she enjoyed the clear view of the ring from the seat her victories had merited her.

The crowd laughed and whistled as Touko suddenly headbutted Kanna in the ring with her goat-like horns and forced her to stagger backwards. After a moment of disorientation, Kanna responded by roaring, then picking Touko up wholesale and smashing her against the ashen ground.

Yuugi's eyes drifted from the battle. A few steps away from the rest of the cheering audience stood Parsee, her hair neatly tucked behind her pointed ears, her eyes gleaming in the lantern-light. She had traded her travel-worn clothes for oni cast-offs, but if anything, they made her stand out even more. She followed the match attentively, almost hungrily, her entire body standing rigidly at attention.

Parsee was an odd one. Yuugi wasn't even sure what her true name was she had initially repeated something similar but unpronounceable until Yuugi had failed to say it correctly five times in a row, after which she had switched to repeating 'Parsee', nodding in satisfaction as Yuugi parroted it back to her. Similarly, she had accepted the family name the other oni had bestowed upon her without a murmur, as if she'd always been called Mizuhashi.

She wouldn't say a word about her past, either. Her "gibberish" had proven to be Persian, something Satori Komeiji had little trouble understanding, but that was all Yuugi knew. The satori had narrowed her eyes in either sympathy or revulsion, but either way had kept Parsee's secrets, only stating that as long as the oni kept an eye on her, she was welcome to stay.

The mystery irritated Yuugi she preferred all things in her world to be direct and out in the open but in general, she found Parsee's presence highly enjoyable. She had taken it upon herself to teach her Japanese, a task which had proven shockingly easy, and following that the bridge princess had started following her everywhere, like a second, smaller shadow, listening alertly at everything she said, eager to understand the world around her.

Yuugi returned her eyes to the crowd. Her gang didn't understand why she allowed Parsee to tail them, failing to recognise her staggering inner strength. Still, Yuugi was chief and her word was law, and so Parsee was treated politely, though never warmly.

The crowed roared, and Yuugi turned her head to see Kanna tossing Touko back onto the ground before grabbing her by the ankle. With a growl, she lifted the larger oni from the ground and whirled her in the air like a sling. When she finally let, Touko went crashing out of the ring, colliding with several oni in the audience.

The rest of the audience laughed, then began hailing the victor with applause. Kanna puffed up her chest in pride as she exited the ring.

Yuugi clapped too and looked on as Touko clambered back up, defeated but defiant. The audience fell into eager conversation, anticipating the next match-up.

Someone nudged at Yuugi's rolled-up sleeve, and she turned to meet Parsee's keen gaze.

"Yuugi." Her voice was level and as always, made Yuugi think of a distant ocean. "I want to fight, too."

The declaration gave Yuugi pause, but only for a moment. Why shouldn't Parsee fight? She was a youkai too, and if she planned to continue roaming with the oni, she should join in on their customs as well.

"You can. It's free for all." She eyes the oni gathered around the ring. "You can go next if you can find yourself a sparring partner." She slapped Parsee on the back, making her stagger forward. "Go on, shout for one before the ring's taken again."

Parsee stared at the crowd, her eyes narrowing. She took in a deep breath.

"Who will fight me?!" she bellowed, her usually soft voice carrying over the clamour of the crowd.

Dozens of pairs of curious eyes clapped themselves on her, but even after several moments ticked, no-one rose to the challenge. Yuugi couldn't say she was surprised: there was little pride in trouncing a non-oni, let alone someone as unassuming as Parsee, and much to lose if Parsee somehow managed to win. Agreeing to fight her would be a sizeable favour, and few oni have that much goodwill towards their tag-along bridge princess.

Just as Yuugi wondered if she'd have to fight Parsee herself, a large oni with chin-length hair and short, straight horns stood up, grinning. "I'll spar with you, Mizuhashi."

Yuugi cast an appraising look at the volunteer. Urara wasn't the strongest of oni, but she was usually level-headed while simultaneously capable of berserker fury in battle, and by no stretch a weakling. She'd do.

Yuugi turned back to Parsee. "You know the rules?"

Parsee nodded. "The first one who can't get back up or leaves the ring loses."

"Good." Of course Parsee would have figured it out by now, clever as she was. "Off you go, then."

The oni hooted and cheered as Parsee entered the ring. She cut a silly figure in her over-sized cast-off clothes hanging off her, but the fighting stance she assumed was surprisingly competent.

Urara moved opposite her, stretching her arms in an exaggerated fashion. "Give me your best shot, little girl."

Her arms were twice as thick as Parsee's neck, and as Yuugi raised her sake dish to her lips, she wondered if she should have steered Parsee clear of the battlefield after all. At that point it was too late halting the fight after the challenge was accepted would shame Parsee in front of the oni and so she sat down more comfortably and ignored the strange trill in her stomach. The bridge princess was a youkai, after all. She could take it. Hardly anyone died at sparring.

Unlike most matches, the current one was slow to start. Urara continued stretching her arms, even after the audience began to groan, grinning all the while. Parsee looked on attentively, her expression made of stone.

Then, like a tiger pouncing at its prey, Urara leapt into action. Pulling one of her enormous fists back as she rushed forward, she struck at Parsee's head.

Or rather would have, but Parsee's head was no longer there.

Urara's lunge came to a stuttering halt, and her eyes darted around to see what Yuugi and the rest of the onlookers already knew; that Parsee had jumped nimbly out of the way and was now staring at Urara from several paces away, her shoulders stiff and her eyes wide.

Urara broke into a lopsided grin. "That's one way to deal with it," she said as she turned to face Parsee again, "but how are you going to win if you don't ever strike back?"

Parsee made no reply. She braced herself for another attack.

"Tch." For a moment, Urara's lazy smile faltered. She inhaled, so subtly only a seasoned combat veteran could spot it.

Then, she ran forward with tengu-like speed, so fast it tousled the hairs of the nearest onlookers. She hadn't raised her fists: she didn't need to. It was clear she was going for a headbutt.

From her vantage point, Yuugi missed how exactly Parsee managed to sidestep the assault, but sidestep it she did. The Urara stuttered to a halt only a few inches from where she would have been disqualified, and turned back towards the ring with a glint of victory in her eyes.

Only then did Yuugi see that Parsee hadn't been able to avoid the attack entirely; the bridge princess faltered, clutching her side. It couldn't have been more than a graze, or else she'd be down for the count, but from the way her legs shook, another graze was all it took.

Urara rose to her full height, flexing languidly. Parsee stared on, breathing shallowly.

Suddenly, Urara raised her arms to her sides.

"Go on, then. I'm giving you a free shot." She widened her stance. "Show me what you've got."

The audience laughed.

Though it was in bad form, Yuugi couldn't argue with Urara's assessment of Parsee's strength. Even if she pounded on Urara's exposed torso for an entire day, she was unlikely to do more than bruise her. In fact, taking the free shot was tantamount to admitting as much.

Parsee seemed to realise this, too, as instead of striking, she slinked further towards the opposite end of the ring, still clutching herself. For a moment it looked as if she was about to yield, but ultimately she stood her ground, staring defiantly at Urara.

Urara leered at her as she reassumed her fighting stance, but from her pose Yuugi could read a modicum of newfound respect for her opponent. "Fine. Let's do this properly."

She lunged towards Parsee again.

Only, there were now two Parsees.

A shock went through the crowd. Yuugi blinked, certain she's seeing things, but even after rubbing her eyes the double bridge princesses remained. Only after careful scrutiny did Yuugi notice one Parsee shimmered, like she was made out solid light.

Urara, however, didn't have the time to spot the difference. A look of shock registered on her face just before she reached the pair, missing both. The illusion evaporated immediately afterwards, but by then it no longer mattered: Urara has speeded head-first out of the ring.

The audience fell eerily silent as the oni gave each other puzzled looks.

Parsee stood still in the ring, breathing shallowly. The sleeve of her tunic has fallen down from her shoulder in the tousle, her usually neat hair is a fuzzy mess, and she was still clearly favouring one side of her torso, but she held her chin up despite the non-reaction from the crowd.

Slowly, a thin, satisfied smile spread on her lips.

Urara pushed herself back up and shook her head, her back turned from the ring, her eyes hidden beneath her fringe. For a long while, she did nothing more.

When she finally tossed her head back, there was fire in her eyes.

In a blink of an eye, she's back in the ring. Before Parsee could react, she reached out with her shovel-like hand and grabbed her by the front of her tunic and raised her aloft.

"Cheat!" She spat through gritted teeth. "Deceiver! You conniving, dishonourable little..." She punctuated each word with a rough shake.

In turn, Parsee clawed desperately at Urara's hands, but it's like a kitten trying to escape from a tiger.

The crowd murmured, and several of the oni sitting closest to Yuugi shifted uncomfortably, but none moved to interfere. Bitter outrage had no place in the sparring ring, but then, neither did Parsee's deceit.

Yuugi was on her feet before she even realised what she was doing, and with three long strides, she was at the centre of the ring. She placed her hand on Urara's shoulder and squeezed, not too tight to break bones, but tight enough to catch her attention.

"She won. Let go," Yuugi growled, surprised by the harshness of her tone.

Urara glared hellfire at her. "You know she cheated! Like a human would! You can't allow this brat to come here and make a mockery "

"She. Won." Yuugi repeated through gritted teeth, increasing the pressure of her hold. By that point, human bones would have crumbled to dust.

Urara continued to stare back. Finally, she yielded. She dropped Parsee unceremoniously on the ground and turned away, wrenching herself away from Yuugi's slackening grasp.

Parsee sat up and then fell still, staring at the audience which for only the second time in two hundred years was entirely silent.

Seeing that she was fine, Yuugi placed her hand on her hip and focused her attention on Urara. The weaker oni's head hung low at least she was ashamed for sullying the training ground with her actions but her hands were curled into fists.

Had she been the only one out of step, Yuugi would have challenged her there and then and wiped the floor with her. But Urara's actions, stupid though they were, had been provoked.

In truth, Yuugi was troubled. Parsee hadn't broken any rules, that was true at least, any rules spoken out loud. Not a single oni in the history of the race would have thought to use the kind of misdirection she had, and so making it an official rule had never crossed their minds. All the same, each of them knew Parsee had committed a great transgression.

Yuugi raised her chin up. "Enough. Now we're going to have fun!"

The difference was immediate. The oni returned to their drinks, and soon the din of conversation was once again pleasantly boisterous, though with lingering mutters mixed in.

"Chief..." Urara was still in the ring. She had turned back towards Yuugi and unclenched her hands. Her tone was respectful she acknowledged Yuugi's triumph over her but the rage Parsee had kindled in her was boiling just beneath the surface. "That kind of disgrace..."

"She doesn't understand our customs yet," Yuugi stated firmly. That had to be it. She refused to consider the alternative, Parsee willingly making a fool of them all. She has never known the bridge princess to be disrespectful like that: at worst she was strange and still holding onto the ways of her former people.

"She isn't an oni," Urara continued, quieter now.

She didn't have to elaborate. Yuugi caught her drift anyway.

"No, she isn't. But she is one of us regardless." she replied, never changing her expression.

Urara frowned at the reply, but Yuugi's word was law. After nodding stiffly, she limped back to her friends and downed a cup of sake immediately offered to her, sullenly accepting the slaps on her back.

Yuugi looked around. While she had been preoccupied by Urara, Parsee has crept away and was nowhere to be seen, gone like a shadow disappearing before light.


	3. Chastity

Yuugi stomped up the hill, whistling a tune under her breath, and balancing her sake dish on one palm, the collection of fairy tales she planned to give Parsee on the other, and finally pictures of the layout of Hell tucked under her arm.

Procuring reading material in Hell wasn't easy: most oni were literate only to a limited extent, and the sinners had more pressing things to worry about than catching up on the latest stories. However, there was a massive library in the Palace of Earth Spirits, and loath though Yuugi was to visit the satori when she didn't have to, she had to admit Satori Komeiji was extremely fair when it came to loaning out her scrolls.

The joys of reading quietly alone weren't something Yuugi understood: to her, stories were the best when told aloud around a campfire, preceded and followed by copious drinking. But then, she had long since learned that Parsee thought more like a satori than an oni. That was why she had helped her get the job as a bridge overseer while she herself continued to roam with her gang. It was better for everyone, especially after the other oni could no longer hold back their contempt following the episode in the sparring ring.

Yuugi sighed. She disliked duplicity as much as the next oni, but she also knew Parsee had meant no harm with her actions: all she had done was try to fit in. Yuugi could see that, even if the others couldn't.

She heard a sharp intake of breath, and turned to see a puny human flat against the wall of the tunnel, staring at her with glassy horror. Some honourable sap who had successfully made the crossing without being swallowed by the yawning abyss due to her sins, and was now terrified at the mere sight of an oni.

Yuugi smiled at the human and inclined her head. It wasn't her job to keep those who willingly ventured in out, so she might as well be pleasant.

The human squeaked something incomprehensible and scurried past her, throwing darting glances at every direction till she exited the tunnel and entered the top of the hill leading to the city. Yuugi watched it all, amused, then continued towards the entrance.

As she did so, for the first time in years she paid attention to the walls of the tunnel. The stone behind the human had been the exact spot where she had seen Parsee, with her tongue firmly held between her teeth, carve a line into the bedrock on her first day of work. Since then, Yuugi had briefly glanced at the growing collection of lines whenever she passed by until they had simply become a part of the scenery.

Now, she looked at them again. The lines stretched on as far as her eyes could see, reaching from the ceiling to the eye level of ants, starting out as neat, identical clusters of five and growing messier and less discrete the closer she came to the bridge.

She didn't even try to count them. Has it really been so long?

She stepped out of the tunnel and into the surface-bound cavern. Parsee stood where she expected her to be, by the mouth of the bridge with her back turned towards the tunnel. The coloured lantern by the bridge on which some wiseass had long ago written "Welcome to Hell" tinted her honey-coloured hair a sickly green-yellow hue.

Yuugi smiled. Both her hands occupied, she made up for her inability to wave with the boisterousness of her voice. "Hey, Parsee!"

Parsee's shoulders shot towards her ears, and she whirled around, flustered.

Perhaps it was simply the dim lighting, or Yuugi had drunk quite a bit more in the party prior to coming over than she thought she had, but for a fleeting moment, it had looked like Parsee's eyes were glowing. She definitely wasn't imagining the air of melancholy, however.

She approached, undaunted but puzzled. "How are things?"

Parsee seemed smaller than usual, almost shrunken. When she smiled, it was a feeble effort that didn't reach her eyes. "I've been worse."

Yuugi held up the scroll. Better get her mind off whatever was bothering her. "Got you some new stuff."

"Oh!" It was like watching a fire come back alive from embers. Parsee all but snatched the scroll. "Thank you! Is it fairy tales?"

"Yeah. Are you sick of them?"

Parsee embraced the scroll. "No. I doubt I'll ever be." She made to unfurl her treasure before her eyes flitted to the other scroll under Yuugi's arm. "I take that's something else?"

"Yeah." Yuugi sat down cross-legged and folded the drawing on the cavern floor, smoothing it out against the uneven surface without undue caution. Parsee sat down opposite her in perfect seiza how she had learned it when none of the oni ever bothered with it, Yuugi would never know setting the fairy tales aside. "Some administrative stuff. Thought I could use your advice."

Parsee nodded, her eyes fixed on the map.

"So, the big bosses want us to patch up some walls in the flower block," Yuugi jabbed at the offending block on the map, "but we have our hands full with the wind and snow blocks as is. Gonna have a full-scale riot on our hands if we don't have enough guards over there at all times, but the walls are in really bad condition and are gonna be a problem very soon if we don't do something about it." She spread her hands. "We just don't have enough oni."

Parsee frowned at the map. After a moment, Yuugi realised it was because the kanji on it were for the official names of the eighteen Hells rather than the cutesy titles most Ministry workers used for convenience's sake. She pointed at the correct sections till Parsee's confusion vanished.

"How many workers do you need?" she asked.

"A hundred, at least. We could draft some sinners, but that always makes the big bosses mad." Yuugi had never understood why. So what if someone was conscripted into hard labour instead of being ground into a pulp? Punishment was punishment. "They're much weaker than us, too, and we need a whole bunch of us overseeing them."

Parsee pondered in silence for a while. "Then how about..." She raised her head. "Do they still keep animals in The Palace of Earth Spirits?"

 _Still?_ Surely it had been less than a month since Parsee had last been there. "Sure. Birds, cats, the works."

"More than a hundred?"

"Definitely. Haven't ever count them all since they move around so much, but I'm sure of that much."

"Then why don't you ask them for help? They all must have powers if they live here, and if you make a game of it, I'm sure they'll have the wall fixed before you have time to blink."

"Oh." Exaggeration aside, it was a good plan. "They are stronger than the sinners, that's true. And I'm sure the Palace will be happy to have them out of the house for a bit." She wasn't looking forward to subjecting herself to the all-seeing third eyes of the satori twice on the very same day, but she could bear it. She had nothing to hide.

"There you have it, then. You'll probably still want to make sure you have a couple of your lieutenants to make sure they actually keep building a wall instead of fashioning some sort of a playground from the stones, but..."

Yuugi grinned. "Definitely." She rolled up the map. "Thanks, Parsee."

Parsee smiled, but her eyes were cold. Even as Yuugi looked on, she couldn't keep it up, soon she fell into the same melancholy sulk Yuugi had seen when she had entered the cavern.

She tossed the map aside. "Okay, that does it." She ignored Parsee's startled blinking and leaned forward. "What's wrong? Is someone from my crew giving you grief? I'll pulp them for you, no problem."

"It's nothing like that," Parsee protested, but offered her a quick smile nevertheless.

"So it's something. Come on, spill the beans. Just not literally."

Parsee's smile grew momentarily brighter. Still, she visibly hesitated, and when she spoke up, it was in a vague, tremulous voice.

"It's nothing big, I swear," she began. "They treat me fine when I visit the city. Mostly they just ignore me."

Yuugi frowned. She would've preferred the oni had instead understood Parsee instead of dismissing her as a weakling, but she couldn't stop them from being dunderheads. "Who is it, then?"

"No-one." Parsee took a deep breath. "It's just, standing here day after day, seeing all these who cross the bridge, and how happy they are... well, it makes me feel like how I felt when I travelled with you and witnessed how much stronger you and all your friends are."

"Eh?" Yuugi racked her brain for what she would have felt in Parsee's shoes. "Respect?" she ventured.

Parsee said nothing. Then, she pushed herself up to her knees. "Forget it."

"No." Yuugi grabbed Parsee's arm and made her sit back down. "We're gonna talk about this. How does it make you feel?"

To her surprise, Parsee laughed, in a low chuckle. "Are you really asking me about my feelings? This isn't the Yuugi I know."

"Don't be stupid. Of course it is." Just because oni preferred to solve their problems with their fists didn't mean they weren't capable of sitting down and talking. "Now, tell me what's up, or I'll have to dunk your head in some water till you start talking sense."

Parsee laughed again, even quieter this time. Then, she sobered up, and with a long sigh, began anew. "Well.. it's just when I see all the people who make the crossing, I can't help but see how strong they are, or how wise they are, or simply how happy they are. They all have places they belong to, and someone they care about enough to travel to Hell for. And here I am, watching the bridge, every day the same, with nowhere to go. When I left my home, I swore to myself I'd make a better life for myself, but I'm just not strong enough..."

Yuugi stared. This was the first time Parsee had brought up her past, even in passing, but what really drew her attention was the snivelling weakness of it all.

"Stop that," she said sharply. "Self-pity is for the weak and pathetic. You are neither."

"Except that I am." Parsee was smiling again, this time full of bitterness. "I could never be as strong as you, or as knowledgeable as a satori. I have hardly any powers, and I have no future. Unlike all those others..."

This time, Yuugi was certain it wasn't her imagination: a dull green glow kindled in Parsee's eyes, stronger by the word.

Wordlessly, she placed her sake dish down, then leaned forward and grabbed Parsee by the shoulders. "Stop that right now."

"I can't. I tried to think about other things, I really did, but it's the truth. I will never "

"I said stop it!" She punctuated her words with a shake.

"But..."

"I said..."

"You're hurting me!"

At length, Yuugi realised her fingers were digging into Parsee's shoulders, and withdrew her hands. At least Parsee didn't wince; instead, she glared at Yuugi. The glow in her eyes had vanished.

For a moment, Yuugi wasn't sure what to do. She sat back down as Parsee gathered her breath and wiped her eyes, then picked up her dish and took a long sip from it.

"Here's the thing," she said after lowering the sake from her lips, "Not everyone's gonna be as strong as the strongest. That's just how it goes. That doesn't mean you can give up like that."

Parsee said nothing in response.

"Now, listen. You're strong. A different kinda strong, but still strong, and just because Urara and the others don't understand it doesn't make it any worse. You just have to stand firm and cultivate it. Show the world exactly what you're made of."

Parsee still glared at her, but her expression softened. "You really think I'm strong?"

Yuugi nodded. "We're in Hell, remember? There's no choice but to be strong when you live here. With all the hatred and fear and magic in the air, if you don't hold your own, it starts talking through you."

"...That can happen?"

"It can." It was common knowledge among most youkai, but then Parsee hadn't always been one. "You're no longer a human. You have to protect your spirit." She found a smile rising. "You won't have any problem doing that, though. I know it."

"Well, I learned something." Parsee's tone was still obviously bitter, but Yuugi let it slide. She had already said everything she could possibly say.

"I'll talk to the others and make them see what you have," she suggested.

Parsee shook her head. "If they won't accept me, they won't. I can live with that."

"But they should accept you." She had liked having Parsee around. "I'd call you my sister if I thought it'd help."

Parsee made a sound halfway between a chuckle and a sob. "I don't want to be your sister."

Before Yuugi had time to be insulted, Parsee leaned forward and planted her lips on Yuugi's.

The entire word came to a standstill. It wasn't until Parsee retreated back to where she had sat, a blush creeping on her face, that Yuugi finally realised what a beautiful place the cavern was.

"I see what you mean." She stood up and in a single movement, picked Parsee up by the waist and hoisted her towards the stalactites, grinning up at her. "Better not say sister."

Flushed, Parsee placed her hands on Yuugi's shoulders for support. Her eyes shone again, but this time with hope. "It's fine, then?"

"No." And with that, Yuugi lowered Parsee back down to embrace. "It's better than fine."

Letting out a soft sigh, Parsee leaned her head against her shoulder and hugged her back.

Things would work out, Yuugi knew as she pressed Parsee closer against her chest. After all, they were both strong.

* * *

Making a big deal about their relationship wouldn't make a difference, and so they didn't. Parsee continued to walk the streets on the rare occasions she came down to the city with her head held high. Parsee was strong.

Parsee was strong.

Parsee was strong.


	4. Patience

"What do you mean _she's gone_?"

Touko raised her hand to a clumsy salute, hitting her right horn with the flat of her hand in the process. "Just that she ain't there, Chief. The bridge was deserted."

Yuugi folded her arms. Since the rumour Parsee had abandoned her post had come from a human capable of crossing the bridge, she had assumed it to be true, but learning it was so for certain did nothing to improve her mood. "And you checked everywhere? Not just where she lives, but the surrounding area?"

"You know it, Chief. Nothing."

"Right." Yuugi raised her voice so that everyone within a mile's radius heard her. "We've got a missing Ministry worker at our hands, folks. Split and search every nook and cranny. Now!"

The vast majority of oni obeyed at once and scattered. Yuugi was just about to follow them when someone stepped into her peripheral vision.

"I don't know about this, Chief."

Yuugi turned to face Urara. "Explain."

Urara shifted uncomfortably, her shoulders squared, but her gaze never once wavered. "Since when have we searched for missing employees before the order comes in from above? We don't even know how long she's been gone."

"We will search now." Yuugi said firmly. "She's missing work, and I want her found. That's all you need to know."

"If the bridge princess is missing, the most logical conclusion is that she fell into the chasm."

Yuugi snorted. "Don't be stupid. She knows that bridge like the back of her hand."

Urara shrugged. "Then maybe she had enough of Hell and ran back to the surface. Weaklings sometimes think humans will accept them if they act like them."

Without another word, Yuugi lunged forward to grab Urara by the horns. Before the other oni could do more than blink, she lifted her off her feet and slammed her to the ground.

She re-folded her arms as the dust settled. "That is slander."

Urara scrambled to a crouching position. "How so, Chief?" Her eyes were pure steel. "You're too infatuated with that runt to see her for what she really is! You're weak, and I won't obey someone who—"

Yuugi took a threatening step forward.

Urara fell silent, but continued to stare up at her.

At length, she began to chuckle.

A sudden chill ran down Yuugi's spine. The sound was an eerie twin to the kind of despairing laugh Parsee let loose during her dark moods.

"We all see it, Chief," Urara continued in a low voice, smiling nastily, "Yuugi Hoshiguma, Deva of the Mountain, Terror of the Tengu, tamed and subdued by a treacherous weakling no different from a human—"

The stone floor an inch from Urara's knee was punctured by Yuugi's fist.

Urara stilled as bits of debris scattered all around her, her eyes wide. The few oni who had remained close by all turned to stare at her and Yuugi.

Slowly, Yuugi raised her fist. Her arm had sunk into the solid ground all the way to her elbow. She kept raising it till her hand, coated in a thin reddish layer of powdered stone, was at her eye level.

"We will settle this later, Urara, and you will wish you'd never been born," she growled. "But now, you will go and search for Parsee."

Urara stood up without a word, still maintaining eye contact. Very slowly, she turned and walked after the other oni.

Yuugi ignored the on-lookers commenting on the event and headed off in the opposite direction. She had wasted enough time as it was. Finding such a small woman in a vast space like Hell would be difficult, but the day she shied from a challenge was the day she lay down to die. And Parsee _was_ still in Hell, no matter Urara's insinuations.

Still, as she stormed across the plains, hollering Parsee's name at suitable intervals till the walls shook, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened. Parsee had been acting peculiarly for months now, obviously beyond bored with her job. Even so, Yuugi knew she wouldn't abandon her post on a mere whim. Something must have gone wrong.

She came across a segment of the wall where several of the pillars holding up a protruding part of the ceiling had collapsed, causing a sizeable chunk of the infrastructure to cave in on itself. She was about to walk on, rolling her eyes and wondering why maintenance still hadn't gotten around to fixing it, when she felt a chill running down her spine.

She stared at the cave-in. Someone, or something, was lurking behind it, its malevolent presence so powerful it was almost physical. An escapee from the deeper pits of hell, or some other lost evil specter, perhaps?

Yuugi approached, looking for an opening, or else a spot she could turn into one without taking out what remained of the ceiling. Parsee or not, any unusual phenomenon in Hell might have been connected to her disappearance, and so Yuugi would investigate, and if need be, punch the suspect.

Further inspection revealed a narrow tunnel partially hidden behind a chunk of a broken pillar, much longer than she would have guessed. If she squared her shoulders, she could just barely inch her way into it, and so she did exactly that.

As she crawled onward, the presence of hatred grew into a heavy miasma. Likely, the entire tunnel was a trap, but she would show whoever had devised it what happened when you attempted to trap an oni.

After minutes of fumbling, she came across a small cave, little more than a crawl space. It was dimly lit through tiny cracks in the porous ceiling: one of the higher reaches of Hell had to be directly above, as the surface was still far away. The ceiling was too low for her to even sit up, but before she had time to get angry about it, she saw something colourful at the deep end of the cavern. A slight figure dressed in hand-me-downs, curled into a ball.

"Parsee." She attempted to approach, only the bump her horn into the ceiling. Grimacing, she lowered her head. "Parsee, can you hear me?"

Parsee twitched, then slowly raised her head upwards, hiding her eyes behind her arms almost like the light from the ceiling was as blinding as sunlight. She looked half dead, her already pale skin clammy and visibly yellow.

"Parsee." She was alive, at least, but what had possessed her to crawl into a place like this? Yuugi leaned forward, scraping her knees against the rocks on the ground. "What happened?"

Parsee removed her arm and blinked at her, like a suddenly awakened owl. Her face, already haggard, went entirely white.

"Stay away!"

Her voice was shrill and only one step away from uncontrolled panic, a far cry from her usual high-pitched but calm tones.

Yuugi halted at once. "Okay, I won't come any closer. What's wrong?"

Parsee's shoulders relaxed, but she looked away and curled back down to hug her knees. "I don't know." She leaned against the wall. "I don't..."

Yuugi had seen behaviour like this before: sometimes, non-oni fatally wounded in battle would give up on life and crawl into some nook to perish alone. Only, there was no blood in sight, and when she sniffed the air, the only smells were those of earth and dust.

She frowned. Where were the mind-readers when you needed one? "Are you hurt? Did some stupid human try to attack you?" Those scoundrels were always playing underhanded tricks on youkai, after all, and just because there were no visible injuries didn't mean someone couldn't have inflicted one on Parsee's spirit.

"No..." Parsee shuddered violently.

With a sickened pang, Yuugi realised she was lying. "Parsee!"

She made another attempt to crawl forward.

"Stay there!" Parsee thrust her open palm towards her, as if it could act as a real barrier.

Yuugi halted again, and not only because she had said she wouldn't approach. The miasma she had sensed from the outside was so thick she was finding it difficult to breathe, but she still couldn't see any possible source for it.

One thing was for sure: she had to get Parsee away from it. "Come out. This place is hurting you."

"I'm not hurt," Parsee insisted. "I just... had to get away for a while."

Yuugi took a deep breath, loud enough that the exhale made the loose earth around her shake. "Away from what?"

Parsee stared at her, with glowing eyes Yuugi had by then come to expect whenever the bridge princess was distressed. She let out a shuddering breath.

"It's closing in."

"No kidding. That's why we need to go."

Parsee gave her a blank look, then shook her head. "No. It's much safer here."

Yuugi considered the situation. Either Parsee was somehow entirely insensate to the miasma, or else she sensed it much better than Yuugi did and knew its source was elsewhere. Neither possibility explained what the source actually was.

She cut to the chase. "What are you hiding from?"

Parsee continued to shook her head. "I tried to leave it behind when I left home, but it's followed me ever since. If I stay in one place for too long, it will find me. That's why I had to get away."

If anything, Yuugi was now even more confused. "Is it some kinda evil spirit? We have ways to deal with those."

Parsee shook her head again.

Yuugi sighed. This was going nowhere fast, and if she was suffering from a shortness of breath, the presence had to already be gnawing at Parsee's spirit. "We'll talk about this later. First, we really need to get out of here."

"How come?"

She really couldn't tell? "I don't know why you can't sense it, but there's something rotten lurking here." She extended her hand. "Come on. Whatever's waiting outside gets to answer to my fists if it tries anything funny."

Parsee hesitated. Then, very slowly, she unfurled herself and reached over the place her hand in Yuugi's.

At once, Yuugi pulled her in close. The beating of the bird princess' heart was like a bird's. "Okay, I've got you."

Parsee said nothing and leaned her head against Yuugi's shoulder.

They remained still for quite some time. Curiously, Yuugi noticed that the miasma, though not entirely gone, had faded to background radiation typical of the seedier corners of Hell. Whatever the case, it no longer troubled her breathing, and from the even rise and fall of Parsee's chest, she was much better, too.

"Okay." Yuugi gave her a determined squeeze before easing her grip. "Let's go."

It was much harder to retreat from the tunnel while trying to guide Parsee through it at the same time, but somehow, it felt easier. 

* * *

And for a long while after the incident, everything was fine.

Parsee had been a good worker for the span of several human lives by then, and her eccentric getaway was easily brushed under the rug. Even the enma had bad days.

Furthermore, she did her best to regain the administration's esteem. There were no further hiccups; no news of any interruptions or accidents.

And yet... whenever Yuugi visited her, she greeted her with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She said all the right things and sometimes even followed her to the city despite the sour looks the other oni aimed at her, drinking quietly and following the revelry with no visible emotion beyond a vague tiredness.

They spoke no more of the cavern incident, not until a night when one of the younger oni successfully cajoled Parsee into a drinking contest. She rarely drank much, and barely stayed on her feet as Yuugi escorted her home.

"It's found me," Parsee whispered, her nails digging into Yuugi's arm as she stumbled by her side. "I can feel it watching me all the time."

"But what is it?" Yuugi supported her as best she could, but when Parsee stumbled on a third step in a row, flailing like a newborn fawn, she found it easier to pick her up and carry her. "I have to know to fight it."

Parsee shook her head against Yuugi's shoulder, her eyelids heavy. "I don't know."

This had to be a lie, but her voice was so slurred Yuugi couldn't find it in her to be cross. "Is it watching now?"

"No." Parsee closed her eyes. "But it'll be back..."

Upon reaching Parsee's home, Yuugi could do little more than place her on her bed and give her a kiss on the forehead. If anything truly was watching, it had better take it as a sign of protection.


	5. Diligence

Yuugi ground her teeth as she stormed up the tunnel, ignoring the bits of stone and earth that fell from the walls and ceiling in her wake. Satori Komeiji's verdict regarding the most recent, violent troublemaker to enter Hell, harmless in the face of a gang of oni, but disturbing in that he was there at all, looped in her mind like a song verse she couldn't get out her head.

 _"Someone with this much jealousy in their heart should never have been able to cross the bridge."_

She lowered her head and increased her pace, spurred on by the memories of the dark looks her lieutenants had exchanged upon this proclamation, and the way Urara had raised her hand towards the stump of her left horn, her eyes shining with vindication.

The stalactites shook as she landed her foot on the tunnel's entrance. "Parsee!"

No response. The bridge stood abandoned, with nothing even resembling life but the slow drip of water from the ceiling.

She stomped to Parsee's nest next, only to find it equally lacking in bridge princesses. Thus stymied, her anger made way for concern. If Parsee was completely missing, the berserker would never have made it to Hell in the first place: without some kind of aid or trickery, he would have plunged into the abyss attempting to cross the bridge. Whatever was going on was very wrong indeed.

"Parsee!" Her words echoed in the cavern long after she fell silent. No doubt it would reverberate all the way to the Palace of Earth Spirits.

"Yes?"

Yuugi jerked her head upwards. There she was, sitting atop a jutting rock mere feet from the ceiling, smiling down at her.

It wasn't just any smile. It was the smile she had worn when Yuugi had first said her name. It was the smile she had allowed herself upon mastering a difficult kanji. It was the smile she'd bestow upon Yuugi after a kiss, during those blessed moments where her shoulders relaxed and the dull glow in her eyes vanished entirely, if only to return in a flash. It was the smile Yuugi loved seeing more than anything else in the world.

And yet, she found herself assuming a fighting stance. "Why are you here and not at your post?"

Parsee jumped down, descending in half flight, half free-fall, and landing like a cat some feet away from Yuugi. "There was some trouble earlier."

"You can say that again." Yuugi's heart was pounding wildly, and it took her a moment to understand why. The strange miasma she sometimes sensed was back, more overbearing than ever. She could practically taste it. Worse, when previously she had found it impossible to discern its source, this time it was obviously clinging to Parsee.

"You'd better tell me exactly what happened," she said.

Parsee's eyes shone. "Of course." She took a light, carefree step to the left, almost like a child might, moving closer to nearest lantern.

It was in this new light that Yuugi noticed the scratch marks all over Parsee's arms, angry red lines breaking the porcelain-like skin. Her eyes went to her hands, and as she had half suspected, she saw dried blood caked under her fingernails. What it meant, she couldn't tell, but she felt a strange shiver down her spine she had never felt before.

"Once upon a time there were two honest men." Parsee's tone was sweet and warm, lighter but otherwise identical to the one she used during their reading practice. "They were the best of friends, and when one of them had to enter Hell to retrieve a priceless treasure for his fiancée, the other accompanied him for no other reason but the goodness of his heart. Together, they set off on the perilous journey, and eventually found the entrance to Hell."

She tilted her head, smiling sadly. "Though they crossed the bridge between the two worlds, it soon became clear all wasn't as it appeared. In truth, the best friend was drowning in jealousy. He too loved the woman who his friend was to marry, and while he had thought he could push his feelings aside, every step he took only increased them tenfold. The jealousy turned to bitter words, then to fists. And before the bridge guardian could think of intervening  
, he pushed his friend into the abyss."

"Immediately, he was consumed by his guilt, and threw himself into the abyss as well." She shook her head, sighing. "And to think they got so close, too."

"...That wasn't the incident I had in mind."

"No?" Parsee's smile faltered for a moment before returning at full force. "I suppose you couldn't have known of that yet. What was the other incident?"

Yuugi said nothing for a while. Then, she took a deep breath.

"You can stop pretending now," she said, fixing a murderous gaze on the bridge princess. "You're not fooling anyone."

"Excuse me?"

"You're not Parsee."

Parsee — or the creature in the shape of Parsee — took the accusation with a blink, followed by a warm smile.

Gently, she shook her head.

"I can see why you'd like to think that. You've always had such a wonderful, straightforward way of looking at the world. I wish I could follow your example."

A eerie feeling, like poison dripping into her veins, momentarily stilled Yuugi. She pressed on regardless. "Enough. Reveal yourself."

Parsee continued smiling her inexplicable smile. Slowly, a faint green vapour began to emerge from her pores, enveloping her in a faint, translucent glow. "You really are wonderful. Always the centre of attention, but never boastful about it. You even take the time to acknowledge the little people in your life."

Yuugi reinforced her fighting stance, but the opponent she awaited never emerged. Though Parsee's eyes began to glow with a sickly green so similar and yet so different from the usual colour of her irises, no alien presence made itself known. In fact, the presence, though sickening, was undoubtedly Parsee's own alone.

Which was wrong. If Parsee had been possessed, her spirit would have been annihilated by now. It had to mean...

Parsee must have seen Yuugi's confusion written on her face. Her expression grew gentle, through none of the poison behind it faded. "Do you know what it feels like, witnessing those admiring looks aimed at you? The self-assured smile on your face? The knowledge that no matter what I do, I will never measure up to you, and that those who follow you will always think of me as unworthy of you?" She shook her head. "I tried to run away from how I felt, but it's better to embrace who I am. And this," she raised her hand, coated in jealousy made manifest, "is it."

"No."

Parsee closed her eyes. "I knew you'd say that. I'm sorry." There was no sorrow or regret to be heard in her tone, only a kind of detached glee of a mind far too gone to care. "I can no longer continue working as a bridge guardian."

To her great surprise, Yuugi discovered her fists shook. She forced them still. "That makes you a deserter."

"I suppose so. Can you send my regrets to the Palace of Earth Spirits?" Her smile vanished again. "It's for the best. I was never any good at it. I will never find my purpose, or a real home... even Hell rejects me..."

With a growl that shook the earth around them, Yuugi lunged herself at Parsee. The confused mixture of emotions she felt, aggravated by Parsee's self-pity and the miasma, had turned her blood to fire.

Parsee's eyes flew wide open. She only barely evaded Yuugi's punch, clumsy though it was, and quickly turned tail and fled deeper into the cavern.

Thinking nothing and seeing red, Yuugi gave chase.

She quickly cornered Parsee not far from her home. Though she had reached her boiling point, she had enough presence of mind to find it odd: surely Parsee knew the area better than anyone else and wouldn't be so readily trapped? She had to be panicking.

She pushed her confusion aside and took another stance. "All deserters are to be taken in, or else destroyed."

"I'm sure you're more than capable of both."

Again, Yuugi found herself hesitating. Her opponent's behaviour was at once so similar and so far removed from that of the usual soft-spoken, clever, sweet Parsee, that even knowing possession was unlikely, she had to suspect some kind of an elaborate prank.

"Can you at least tell me why this is happening?" she asked.

"I already told you I decided to embrace who I truly am. Nothing more to it, really." Parsee smiled again. "Didn't you ever wonder why I am a bridge princess?"

She had, on several occasions, but that was of no use now. "Enough." There was no more room for words. If any of what Parsee had said and done was true — and there was very little room for doubt, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise — she was not the person Yuugi had thought her to be. The ache in her chest, therefore, was an illusion, something to be crushed along with the treacherous bridge princess.

There was a chance Parsee would have followed her quietly if given the opportunity, but with her heart bleeding raw and the poison seeping ever further into her flesh, Yuugi didn't even consider it. She went in for the kill.

Parsee dodged the strike much like she had dodged the initial attack, and danced away from all subsequent blows.

Her next attack struck the ground, sending bits of rock flying in all direction. Parsee backed away rapidly, avoiding the debris, then coming to a sudden halt as her back hit the wall. The lingering smugness on her face faded away as she pounced away from the wall and searched for potential escape routes only to find none. For a moment, Yuugi saw the shadow of her former lover reflected on her face, alone and frightened.

It was gone before she could blink, replaced by a deeper glow and an insufferable smirk. Yuugi decided she had tried to fool herself into believing her Parsee had been real after all, and felt an urge to punch herself. Oni had no room for the weakness of self-deception.

As she thought this, a spell whirled by her ear, missing her by a fraction.

She raised her gaze, enraged. Parsee quickly lowered her hands, like she was going to pretend the cavern wall had cast the attack.

Yuugi gritted her teeth. Enough was enough. She generally avoided using her best techniques on anyone other than her fellow oni when she didn't wish to break her opponents, but they were the best way to end any conflict.

With that thought, she began to gather the unnatural energy coursing in the earth and air into her body.

Parsee's eyes widened. She took a step back, in what Yuugi would have earlier called cleverness but now saw was nothing but cowardice, only to hit the wall again and return to her previous position, stunned.

Yuugi ignored her and kept gathering energy. The blind rage she had found herself in gave way to a sense of purpose. She was meant for fighting, regardless of circumstances, and the sensation just before unleashing her attack never got old.

Parsee raised her hands to her forehead and whispered something.

This time, the attack missed Yuugi by a wild berth. A weakling's last-ditch attack with no aim, then. Yuugi didn't acknowledge it, savouring instead the challenge of holding all the energy in one place as it was ready to burst forth in a single chaotic mess.

With a roar, now of concentration rather than anger, Yuugi unleashed Knockout in Three Steps.

Through some miracle, Parsee avoided the first wave of energy blasting over her. The second sent her flying like a rag doll amidst the rocks the attack had shaken loose from the ground. She hit the cavern wall with an unceremonious thud and only slid down an inch before the third wave pinned her back in place.

As the attack dissipated, she slowly slinked down, leaving a bloody smear on the wall behind her. Her eyes had already fluttered shut, with remnants of shock etched on her face as her consciousness rapidly fled.

Yuugi lowered her arms, the contentment that came from battle vanishing, replaced by the grim knowledge she had done her duty.

Suddenly, Parsee smiled.

It was only for a fraction of an instant before her mind gave away and she collapsed into a heap on the ground, but Yuugi knew she hadn't imagined it. She had smiled.

"What—" Equally flummoxed as she was angry, she took a step forward without meaning to. "Why are you smiling?!"

It was at that very moment that the unseen attack blasted through her torso.

Yuugi staggered another step forward from sheer momentum before she could pause to look. The attack — a homing one, she realised now, one that had missed her intentionally on the first pass — had blown a hole through her side. She stared at it with wonderment, feeling no pain even as her vision began to blur. There had to have been something else to the attack, some sort of poison, she realised at length by the time the ground was already rapidly approaching and took her into its firm embrace as her mind sank into the inviting darkness.

With her last glance before the void claimed her, she managed one last look at Parsee. In her unconscious state, she looked just like the Parsee of her memories, with a shadow of the smile still on her face.


	6. Temperance

The raven on the perch gave Yuugi a solemn, knowing look with its beady red eyes, then raised its head and cawed. Its tone struck her as derisive.

She straightened her back and ignored the bird in favour of its owner, who was seated a few feet away from her and whose eyes were narrowed on a long scroll unfurled on her lap.

Well, two of her eyes were. The third eye of Satori Komeiji, mistress of the Palace of Earth Spirits, affixed over her heart by a series of veins, rotated its gaze between every living creature in the room, from the raven to the pair of cats dozing languidly on the mosaic floor of the hall, then to the window into the inner courtyard where even more animals were spending a relaxed afternoon typical to their simple lives.

Whenever the gaze brushed across her, Yuugi kept her expression level. Not that it made the slightest difference.

Since her previous visit, Satori had had her hair hewn to chin height. It was a common look among oni, but curious on a satori, contrasting with the fine flower-patterned silks she wore. Still, it suited her.

"Thank you," said Satori without raising her gaze from the scroll.

Yuugi stiffened and reminded herself that her thoughts weren't her own. Of course, attempting to not think of something only made those thoughts more prominent and easier to pluck from her mind, but she could focus her thoughts on matters at hand, shortening the encounter.

Satori read this very desire the moment it crossed her mind, of course, and to her credit acknowledged Yuugi's wish. With a heavy sigh, she turned her two two normal eyes towards Yuugi. "That sounds like a serious complication. Can you give me the details?"

To someone who had never given a report to a satori before, this would have likely come as an invitation to speak. As it were, Yuugi folded her arms and did her best to move the relevant memories to the forefront of her mind.

Important though it was, she grimaced as she recalled what had happened. Her troops had found her where she had fallen several hours later. Parsee was long gone, and her wound had already healed on its own — if it had ever been real and not some mirage much like the Parsee she had known had proven to be.

She had sent her people after her, of course. The bridge princess was volatile and dangerous, and thus likely to send more visitors to Hell to their premature doom. If she couldn't be reasoned with, she could at least be captured or chased away. It had been with that in mind that she had sent her best sentries into the endless twisty passageways and narrow tunnels between the bridge and Hell proper.

Of the six groups, five had returned without so much as a sighting of the outlaw. The sixth failed to come back.

It was only several days after they were supposed to meet up with Yuugi, a whole day after she had sent a search party after them, that Makoto, one of the three, had stumbled back, alone, covered in dust, and incandescent with rage. Without warning, she had unleashed herself on her allies, pummelling both of the oni that had been with Yuugi at the time to the ground before being subdued.

It was only several hours and countless stiff drinks later that her inexplicable rage began to quell and she could give a report of what had happened. They had indeed discovered Parsee and attempted to catch her. No, the bridge princess hadn't attacked; she had fled at the sight of them, and kept eluding them for hours to an end. They would have caught her eventually, surely, but then things got weird: her two companions, Kanna and Touko, rivals in strength but usually great friends, had started hissing at each other about how they resented them for being more powerful. It had ultimately come to blows, and though Makoto could have stopped it, she felt a strange haze holding her back, the same haze that had made her want to attack Yuugi and the others. They were possibly still out there somewhere, but from what she had seen, it was more likely they had killed one another or fallen into the chasm.

At that point, it had been obvious to Yuugi what had happened, but how it had happened troubled her. Parsee hadn't even come close to them, Makoto insisted, and the few words she spoke between running away, with one exception of harshly telling them to keep their distance, had been mundane and even pleasant. Not once had she done anything that could be construed as an attack. From that, Yuugi had to conclude Parsee's newfound powers were a threat to anyone who approached her whether she intended them as such or not. The damage she could cause if she wandered into a populated area was nearly unthinkable.

But then, would she? Now that every oni in Hell was alerted to the danger, if she ever returned to the capital, they'd have her subdued before her poison could take effect. The real danger was if she decided to return above ground and walk amidst people who neither knew who she was nor had the strength to immediately knock her out. However...

Satori interrupted her thoughts. "How likely is it for you to catch her without casualties while she is avoiding you?"

"As likely as a fairy beating an enma." What they were facing was the kind of treachery oni loathed the most, specifically because it was so difficult to combat through their means. Parsee was light on her feet and could hide just about anywhere, and if she could infect Yuugi's crew from a distance, they had already lost. As long as the bridge princess dictated the terms of the encounter, all they could do was to wait for a day when she was willing to fight fairly and out in the open.

The raven cawed, nudging its beak against its perch as if to check if it were edible. Yuugi took the distraction as an opportunity to allow her thoughts to drift towards their surroundings. Despite the vastness and relative emptiness of the Palace of Earth Spirits, the warm glow that filtered through the stained glass windows and the lamp by Satori's side nevertheless created a sense of gentle calm, which made the place feel more like a home than any other official Ministry building. It wasn't Yuugi's idea of comfort, but she couldn't deny the palace's soothing atmosphere. The army of contented animals prowling about clearly appreciated it, anyhow.

All three of Satori's eyes were on her as she thought this, gleaning the remaining details of the situation from her skull as readily as she had read the scroll.

"If that is the case, this came right on time." Speaking of the scroll, she nodded towards it. After a pause, after which she remembered she was speaking to an oni and not a fellow satori, she picked it up and held it out towards Yuugi. "The Ten Kings have come to a decision. Hell is to be relocated."

Yuugi took the scroll and squinted at the elaborate calligraphy.

"It's not surprising, no." Satori replied to her unuttered thoughts. "There have been murmurs of inevitable overcrowding for two centuries now." She halted with a vague smile, evidently reading from Yuugi's mind that she was perfectly aware of the situation, working on the field and all. She moved on to answer her genuine questions. "They haven't decided where, exactly, but I assume they'll craft another realm modelled after this one. You're expected to help with relocating the residents, after which you can either follow them to the new Hell, or," she quirked her eyebrow, "you can take advantage of the offer written in there."

Yuugi rushed through the text till she found what Satori spoke of. As thanks for their long and excellent service, The Ministry of Right and Wrong was ready to leave rule of the Capital of Hell to any of its current workers who didn't wish to relocate and continue their jobs in the new Hell, though with the understanding the location would be permanently sealed underground to avoid any accidents.

She lowered the scroll. "This is..."

"Unprecedented, yes." The faintest smile crossed her face as she read the question on Yuugi's mind. "I will remain here. They were looking for someone from the administration to stay and ensure the maintenance of this area. Upon learning I was their first choice, I saw no reason to refuse."

That stood for reason. Surely it was more comfortable for Satori to stay in her ancestral home. Not to mention what a pain it would be to relocate all the cats.

"Indeed." Satori extended her hand to receive the scroll the moment Yuugi felt she had read all she wished to. "The bridge will be closed, of course. Since you think Miss Mizuhashi is unlikely to attack anyone who doesn't disturb her and hunting her down would lead to deaths, the safest thing to do is to leave her exactly where she is. Assuming she doesn't escape above ground before the sealing, that is."

"She won't." It was as unnecessary to say that out loud as it was to say anything around Satori, but Yuugi wished to emphasise the point. Even if everything she had known about Parsee had proven to be false, this one thing she would stake her life on; returning above ground would require bravery, and Parsee was nothing if not an abject coward. After all, hadn't she ignored the perfect opportunity to slay Yuugi while she lay unconscious? It couldn't have been a matter of honour, not from a creature who hadn't understood it even at the best of times, and so the only other possible reason was fear of vengeance.

Satori nodded. "Then do as you will." She stood up and walked over to the raven, gently stroking its head as the bird leaned into her touch. "The relocation will begin in a month. Plenty of time to make a decision."

Why she said that when they both knew Yuugi had already made her mind, she'd never know.

"I'll be off, then." She wished to tell her people the news as soon as possible, Many would stay: though the work wasn't bad, she knew many preferred the kind of carefree existence they had enjoyed before the tengu had driven them from the mountains.

She could already picture the future: they would renovate the capital from top to bottom and fill the streets with lanterns to make up for the lack of starlight. Every night, they could drink and wrestle and celebrate, bask in the subterranean hot springs, and test their mettle in a hundred different ways. Glory and honour reclaimed alongside joy.

For the first time in weeks, she felt like smiling.

She gave only a curt bow to Satori. Overt politeness was falsehood in the first place, and she could read her genuine feelings regardless.

Satori nodded back, with a curious tight smile that was at odds with her usual heavy-lidded gaze. Then, as soon as she turned to leave, she spoke up. "Yuugi."

She turned back. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Yuugi had already opened her mouth in kind of a snarl, ready to demand how Satori was supposed to know anything about her situation, how reading her mind was nothing like actually feeling her thoughts, the way they tore into her flesh if she gave them the slightest foothold and flowed through her veins to invade every part of her body till she thought her heart would rip itself right out of her chest.

Her anger dissipated, however, as she saw Satori was looking elsewhere. Her eyes were on an elegant chair, identical to the one she herself was sitting on, standing in the darkest corner of the hall. Based on the heavy layer of dust covering it, even the animals avoided it.

Yuugi swallowed her words and turned away.

The raven's gleaming eyes followed her the entire way to the door.


	7. Kindness

Strength, Yuugi thought as she gazed into the abyss separating Former Hell from the lands above, was meant to be an unshakeable monolith.

She pulled her folded legs closer to her body and drank from her sake dish. Pondering her life philosophy was generally low on her list of priorities, but for the past several decades, it was what her mind inevitably drifted to whenever she approached the bridge. She didn't mind. It was better than the alternative topics, anyway.

Strength, then. To the oni, brawn was merely the beginning, and ultimately meant little if you were a coward. True strength meant putting your entire body and soul on the line when the situation called for it. Losing was only shameful when you failed to do that, and though she felt everyone should always strive for victory, the important thing was to never give up until the entirety of your strength had been expended. That was the way to live a clean, straight-forward life, like the blade of a fine sword.

"Did you come to see me? How thoughtful."

Yuugi straightened her back and kept her eyes on the chasm as she felt a familiar, putrid aura approaching. Apparently, Parsee had decided to slither out from whichever hole in the ground she'd been lurking in this time.

Without further warning, she was already sitting next to her, hugging her legs against her chest, her eyes shining with green bile. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"I'm waiting for a friend," Yuugi said bluntly.

Parsee's smile grew ever sweeter. "That's so nice. It must be lovely having so many friends."

"It is." She drank again, deeply this time. Parsee's words were invariably honest but coated with sickly poison, turning even the most innocuous compliment into a dagger. Alcohol dulled those blades.

Still, even after only a few moments spent in Parsee's presence, Yuugi could feel a creeping darkness at the edges of her consciousness, looking for suitable cracks through which to worm itself into her mind. She steeled herself and smothered the first inklings of jealousy under her loathing.

No, losing by itself wasn't shameful. But losing to a petty emotion to the point where you wholly give yourself up to it, squandering all your potential for good? She couldn't think of anything more pathetic.

Parsee was still smiling at her like nothing was amiss. "While you're waiting, I'd like to ask for a favour."

Another ploy to get her infected with jealousy, most likely. "What is it?"

"I need some rope."

"What for?"

"It's a secret."

Yuugi gave Parsee the critical eye. She was still wearing a mish-mash of garments donated to her by some of the lither oni, immaculately kept. Her bendy hair was neatly brushed and tucked behind her ears, and though her skin was sallow, in general she was as presentable as anyone living in a damp cavern could be.

Long gone, however, was the defiant gaze, that inner strength Yuugi had once found herself admiring. She had given it some thought after the worst of her anger had dissipated, but she still wasn't sure if it had ever been more than an illusion.

 _Not that it matters now,_ she mused as she gazed at the dull glow of jealousy shining forth from Parsee's eyes.

Out loud, she said, "If you find any lying around, feel free to pick it up."

"Thank you. You're so kind." Parsee really could make the most gracious of words sound like sugary poison. "I need quite a bit of it."

"Try the eastern plains. We left a whole bunch of construction material out there last month." Funny Parsee hadn't already found it by herself. Surely she wouldn't have waited to ask for permission if she had known about it.

"Thank you," Parsee repeated. From the corner of her eye, Yuugi saw her curtsey.

"Yuugi!"

She looked up to see Suika landing on her side of the bridge, grinning broadly.

She stood up, vaguely aware Parsee had vanished but not caring either way. She matched her smile to Suika's. "You kept me waiting, you bastard."

Suika laughed and staggered over, only growing louder as Yuugi placed her hand between her horns and applied enough force to crush human skulls.

"Was that the bridge princess that attacked me'n'Reimu a while back?" she asked, pushing Yuugi's hand away.

"Yeah." She looked in the direction Parsee had likely vanished to. "A real weakling."

"Eh, what can ya do?" Suika's tone suggested she really didn't care one way or another. Though a fellow Deva, she had always had a more relaxed attitude to strength and honesty. No wonder she could tolerate living on the surface.

Still, Yuugi had to agree with her on this matter. "Yeah. Let's go."

Her thoughts kept returning to Parsee as they followed the path down to the capital. In some ways she still felt responsible for the bridge princess. She'd been the one who had decided to take her in, the one to teach her the language, and the one who had made sure she had received the job as the bridge overseer. It had been her failure to see the truth which had led to the death of Touko and Kanna and those human saps as much as anything Parsee had done.

To think that after all this time, she could have been so summarily duped.

Never again.

"Hey, buddy! Whatcha getting all blue about?" Suika slapped Yuugi's back with enough strength to topple a small mountain. "Tonight's about having fun!"

Yuugi's cheer returned. "Right. First one to drink herself under a table is a tengu's toerag."

As Suika chuckled, Yuugi felt a sudden stab of envy for her friend's carefree nature. She shook it off, grimacing. Spend a minute with Parsee, be vexed by residual jealousy for the rest of the day.

She smiled back at Suika, focusing on her good memories of her. The jealousy was annoying, but nothing she couldn't deal with, especially with a party and thus endless sake ahead to aid her.

And with that, she forgot all about even speaking to Parsee that day. _Regret_ didn't belong in the oni vocabulary any more than _pity_ did.

* * *

It was several weeks later that she next approached the bridge, on a sudden impulse to cross the chasm and pay Suika a visit in turn.

She sauntered up the tunnel, whistling under her breath. Which season was it in Gensokyo, again? Suika had mentioned the Hakurei Shrine's well freezing, so barring a fairy prank it ought to be winter. How many centuries had it been since she had last seen snow?

Her visions of a wintry landscape came to a halt as she reached the cavern and noticed a change to the bridge. Someone — no points guessing who — had tied a rope around it a few feet from the wall of the chasm, stretched taut as though something heavy was hanging from it.

She halted and considered the rope. Was it some kind of a trap? Whatever the case, it gave her an uneasy feeling.

She stepped onto the bridge, certain it would carry her, then crouched down. She placed her sake dish on the ground with all due solemnity, cracked her knuckles, and jumped off.

A heartbeat later she caught the edge of the bridge with one hand and dangled herself from it, giving her a perfect view of the underside of the bridge, as well as what awaited those who allowed themselves to fall.

She swiftly forgot about that, however, as she saw what the rope was holding up.

Swaying gently from left to right above the yawning abyss, upside down and suspended from her ankle, hanged Parsee. Her hands were behind her back and her eyes firmly shut.

Yuugi let go entirely and flew to her side. "Parsee?"

No answer.

She prodded her side. "Parsee!"

"Mm?" Parsee's brow furrowed, but she didn't open her eyes.

Yuugi sighed. Whatever this fresh nonsense was, she didn't care for it one bit. "If you meant to hang yourself, that's done from the neck."

Parsee's eyes fluttered open, the glow in them muted to where they almost looked like regular eyes. "I know."

Of course she did, but that didn't explain what she was doing, instead. "I'll leave you to it, then."

"Wait." Parsee's frown deepened. "Can you... help me back up? I can't move." Her eyes closed. "Too much... poison in the head."

"Tch."

When Parsee didn't respond, Yuugi hoisted herself back up and looked for the fastest way to free her. The knot looked well made, so she ignored it and instead took hold of the rope with both hands and twisted it in half.  
Discarding the other half, she allowed Parsee's weight swing to the left side of the bridge, then reeled her up.

In mere moments, the bridge princess was lying prone on the bridge. She had used some ridiculous sorcery to tie her hands behind her back while suspending herself. Yuugi tore the bindings off, then scooped her up.

Parsee leaned against her chest with a sigh, She was barely conscious if Yuugi was any judge of it, but breathing steadily, and looked calmer and more at ease than she had seen her in centuries.

Yuugi ignored both the long since forgotten fluttering feeling the sensation of her frail neck against her collarbone awakened in her stomach and the sudden urge to drop her, and instead carried her to the nook of the cavern she had made her home. There, she safely discarded her on the pile of rags that served as her bed, then leaned against the wall to see if she would wake up again.

"What were you even trying to do?" she asked, speaking more to herself than to Parsee.

"Mmm..." Parsee's eyes cracked open. "I was trying to gain wisdom."

Yuugi wrinkled her nose. It sounded like a lie. "Some fairytale of your land?"

"An old tale from a land far to the north-west." Once again, her eyes fell shut, as though she didn't have the strength to keep them open. "Maybe I should have hanged longer."

Having no answer to the comment, Yuugi moved her gaze onto Parsee's meagre possessions, namely the large pile of books and scrolls containing fairytales and other legends on top of a flat rock close to the head of her bed. On the topmost book was a stack of thin cards she didn't recall seeing before. She glanced at the top-most card, depicting a woman taming a beast, then ignored them, too busy being surprised by the fact she recognised the bulk of the scrolls as the ones she had gifted Parsee all those years ago, still in readable condition.

She glanced in her direction, and her surprise grew as she noticed not only that Parsee was also looking at the scrolls, but the smile she wore as she did so. Ever since she had been unveiled her true nature, even her most innocent expressions had a shade of slyness to them, but her current expression, no matter how closely Yuugi scrutinised it for treachery, appeared utterly guileless.

As soon as Yuugi thought of it, however, Parsee's eyes flashed, and the smile wilted away. She turned towards Yuugi with a new, more expected smirk dawning on her face.

"Thank you. For saving me, I mean."

Yuugi shrugged. "Forget about it."

"After you saved my life?"

"You could've flown up by yourself."

"During the first day, maybe. By the time it was safe to come back up, I felt so dizzy I could no longer move."

How long had Parsee hanged there, exactly? Still, Yuugi knew there was a more pertinent question. "Safe from what?"

"Oh, just things. Like wandering down to the city. Or else, well, you know..." Feebly, Parsee raised her hand and frowned at the burn the bindings had etched onto her wrist. "And they say youkai skin is strong."

Yuugi barely noticed her attempt to change the subject, still mulling over her previous words. Physically tying yourself up to compensate for lack of willpower? Really?

"Pathetic," she said out loud.

Parsee let her hand fall on her chest and turned her head towards Yuugi. "It must be easy to say that when you're as strong as you are."

"Don't give me that. You should be strong enough, too."

"It's kind of you to have such faith in me." Parsee's smile faded, giving way to a look of unmitigated envy. "If it had been you, you would have surely defeated it."

" _It_?" Yuugi asked, the likely answer occurring to her as soon as she said the word out loud. What else? Jealousy.

Parsee didn't respond for a long while. Slowly, she propped herself up with her elbows and cocked her head. "Want to give it a try?"

Yuugi gave her a hard look. It was all a trap, of course, likely starting from the supposedly earnest smile if not from the moment she had suspended herself, but the oni way of dealing with traps was to charge forward head on and take the matter by the horns. Furthermore, it was also a challenge, something a Deva of the Mountain never backed away from.

She walked over and crouched down next to Parsee. "Give me your best shot."

Parsee got up on her knees and pushed her hair behind her ears. She placed both of her hands — cold and slightly clammy — on Yuugi's ears, and carefully avoiding the horn, pushed her forehead against Yuugi's. She closed her eyes.

Yuugi waited with her eyes wide open, feeling Parsee's soft breathing against her nose and upper lip.

Then, Parsee opened her eyes.

And just like that, nothing existed in the world but a bright green glow, and the gut-twisting, blood-boiling, wretched agony of knowing everyone else in the world was stronger, more skilled, happier, brighter, more fortunate, that everyone held something she could not ever reach no matter how much she coveted it, a sheer white-hot burn that melted the flesh off her bones and suffocated the screams crawling up her lungs, no respite, nowhere to run, no escape from the poison that flowed in her veins and had already drowned her...

Yuugi gasped for breath, only to find herself back in the cavern, staring into the fading glow of Parsee's eyes. The forces of irrational jealousy continued to gnaw at her at all sides, but the jealousy at the forefront of her mind was tinged with amazement.

"What..." Her thought was interrupted by a violent coughing fit. It was as if the poison had been real, and her body was now trying to violently reject it.

Parsee looked on silently as she retched.

"You're lucky," she said as Yuugi finally stopped heaving.

"Suppose I am," Yuugi muttered. She had lost, but clearly to a superior force. She wasn't particularly prone to jealousy, but even when she had felt it before, it had never been like this, a downright physical force burning away everything in its way. No shame in this defeat.

"I didn't think you could pull away," Parsee continued. "I really should have, considering how strong you are. Oh, to have power like yours..."

Nor was she surprised that Parsee had essentially attempted to assassinate her. She had walked into the trap with her eyes open.

She lifted her chin. "I didn't pull away."

"Then you are really lucky." Parsee smiled. "I'm so jealous."

Yuugi stared at her. Surely she had to know Yuugi had been completely overwhelmed and had played no part in her own salvation.

"So that's what you lost to," she said quietly.

The glow in Parsee's eyes grew dim.

"You should go," she replied in an equally hushed tone. "It's dangerous here."

No, what surprised her was that Parsee Mizuhashi had been real after all.

Yuugi bowed her head. To live with some unfathomable jealousy and maintain even a vestige of your original self...

Owing up to your mistakes was strength, too. "I was wrong about you."

The usual smile spread across Parsee's lips as the poisonous glow returned. "You're so kind to say that. So kind..."

Something moved within Yuugi.

Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around Parsee and breathed in her scent. "I'm sorry."

All she got in response were endless peals of bright, nigh hysterical laughter.


End file.
